Do you have a question? Ask Me – Here, or here, or here. I’ll post the question and the answer.
What do you eat for breakfast?
2 Pieces of toast with margarine and hot chocolate. I usually add some fruit like a banana or apple and if I’m lucky…. raspberries for a special treat.
Do you wear nice shoes?
No. I spend:
* $50 every 2 years on my casual shoes
* $100 a year on dress shoes (I am a manager and need to dress professionally)
* $300 every 2 years for safety boots (I work in construction)
* $80 a year for my gym shoes
What kind of car do you drive?
I use public transit to get to work everyday.
I own an inexpensive car for weekend errands when my wife’s car isn’t available.
We have a very dependable (this means old and cheap) SUV for winter treks and for hauling the occasional boat or MX bike.
Our primary car (my wife uses it for her daily commute and weekend/evening errands) is a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). One payment a month for financing and about $20 a month in fuel and $20 a month in maintenance. High end vehicle, limited expenses.
All told, we spend less that $1000 a month for vehicles (including insurance, licencing, fuel, maintenance, transit pass, etc….).
Theory on PHEV:
It costs about $850 a month to finance @ 1.9% – practically free money.
We spend about $40 month in fuel and maintenance.
Total PHEV costs: $890/month
We were spending about $850 a month in gasoline and maintenance on our previous gasoline vehicle.
Total Gasoline Vehicle costs: $850/month
Sold Gasoline Vehicle for for cash for $3500.
Ontario government sent us a PHEV rebate cheque for $8812.
$3500 + $8812 = $12,312 which was invested at 16.3% and yields $167/month income reinvested and compounded etc… $190/month
Total savings by purchasing PHEV: $150/month
How much money do you actually have?
A Lot.
What motivates you to make a million dollars?
To have a million dollars. Isn’t that enough motivation?
What makes your approach to life different from so many other people who work to pay off their house and work until they are 65 and retire with modest health and not a lot of money?
I approach everything with enthusiasm and optimism. I have been accused of being over optimistic or trying to live in a dream.
What do you think of pipe dreams? I believe they are real.
I’ve been told I need a good dose of reality, I need to stop day dreaming and I need look at the worst case scenario. I will NEVER do any of that.
My success is attributed to my positive attitude, my optimism and my dreams of greatness.
Who helped you with your pursuit and how did you know to ask for help?
What was the biggest thing you changed about yourself that had been holding you back from making millions?
The biggest thing: I was unable to accept total failure and I had the wrong view of time and money. Once I was able to shift my perception of time and money and accept total failure I was able to pursue my millions.
The full story is below and if you’re not interested in the full story here is what you need to know:
I had a paradigm shift – time is more important than money. That’s a strange statement for a guy who’s chasing a million dollars.
I had to change the way I perceived money and time. Time does not generate money, money generates time. By accepting that money generates time (which I had none of) i was able to accept losing all my money because losing all my money meant losing all my time – which is fine because I have no time so nothing to lose really.
Full story—–
I had a dream, actually a nightmare about zombies. I don’t watch zombie movies like Walking Dead. I don’t play zombie video games like Left For Dead. And, the zombies weren’t actually zombies. The zombies were people in my life that I know – acquaintances or people like my bus driver I see every morning or the guy who gets me a Tim Hortons everyday. I know of them and recognize them but I don’t have an attachment to them.
I wasn’t in a real place it was just a place in my dream big enough for the zombies but small enough that I couldn’t escape so I had to fight.
Zombies – people I recognize – lumbering toward me, arms outstretched with malicious intent. The knife I’m carrying will work. I stab at the first zombie and the knife reluctantly squishes into zombie flesh and every nerve in my body is infused with a feeling of disgust, wrong, blackness. More lumbering zombies. More blackness.
I push my knife into another zombie and another. The rooms darkens and my head reals with dread and anxiety; zombie isn’t going down; again with the knife and again it lashes back with fear and blackness.
Recognition waves over me like ocean surf on a cold Atlantic winter day. I pick up my son that I have stabbed, blood sodden pyjamas – he’s a small skinny cute guy, r d hair, always happy – confused face and full of pain. My mind clears and I ask, “do you want me to take you to the hospital or fix you myself?”.
Now I’m awake. Scared. What have I done? I walk to my sons room – sound asleep, peaceful – I give him a little hug and tell him “I love you”.
Sleep will not come easily.
I brew up some elixir of bounce back, sit on my couch and consider my emotions.
I am stressed beyond reason and I’m taking it out on my children. I don’t beat them or yell at them, it’s the opposite. I ignore them, which maybe is worse or at least just as bad.
Right there on the couch drinking the elixir of bounce back I had an epiphany:
I have to change the way I perceive money and time. Time does not generate money, money generates time.
I have to be willing to lose everything to save my relationship with my children and I need help from my family.
I feel the anxiety leave me, I have made a decision. I will spend more time with my family, risk losing my job and involve my family in my pursuit.
I check on my sleeping children and go back to bed.
Sleep comes easily now.